“All I can tell you is we have been meeting, and we will be meeting again (Friday),” he said.

The lockout reached its 54th day, and this week is considered critical for the season to be saved. The work stoppage is threatening to force the second cancellation of an NHL season in seven years.

Even if an agreement is reached soon, it isn’t clear if any of this season’s games that have been called off through Nov. 30 can be rescheduled. The NHL has already said a full 82-game season won’t be played.

“Every day that passes, I think, is critical for the game and for our fans,” Bettman said.

During a second consecutive day of marathon negotiations Wednesday, the players association made an offer on revenue sharing, in which richer teams would help out poorer organizations, and another proposal regarding the “make-whole” provision that would guarantee full payment of all existing multiyear player contracts.

Fehr declined to say whether he felt progress was made.

“I am not going to characterize it except to say, as I have before, that it’s always better when you’re meeting than when you’re not,” he said.

Thursday’s discussions marked the fourth time in six days that face-to-face negotiations have taken place after both sides rejected proposals Oct. 18. The lockout, which began Sept. 16 after the collective bargaining agreement expired, has forced the cancellation of 327 regular-season games, including the New Year’s Day Winter Classic in Michigan.

It was unclear whether the NHL made counterproposals to offers it received from the union on Wednesday. The belief is that the players association has agreed to a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues, but that even division wouldn’t kick in until the third year of the deal.

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